Hushed Confessions
by Moniposa
Summary: He always noticed her. He couldn't help it when his eyes darted to her whenever she laughed, the sweet sound making his mouth inch up in response. Whenever she walked by him, her dark hair would emit the scent of strawberries. He couldn't remember the amount of times he had thought about burying his nose into her hair. Chris really did love her.
1. Chapter 1

NOTES:

Hopefully I'll be able to finish this fic smoothly, haha.

The cover image is by finalmix13 on deviantart

Enjoy!

* * *

He always noticed her.

He couldn't help it when his eyes darted to her whenever she laughed, the sweet sound making his mouth inch up in response. Whenever she walked by him, her dark hair would emit the scent of strawberries. He couldn't remember the amount of times he had thought about burying his nose into her hair. Even her loud snores were so appealing to him- her room was next to his. Since his insomnia barely let him sleep, he could always hear her, and he thought what it would be like to curl up against her and wrap his arms around her.

He could never do those things in real life, though. If anything, Chris knew when to respect boundaries like the gentleman he was raised to be. If she didn't feel the same way, then he wouldn't force her to. It just didn't seem right.

Still, he knew being friends wasn't ever going to be enough.

* * *

The four friends decided that walking to school to enjoy the nice weather instead of having Danny drive would've been better, so they left the door, some of them still eating breakfast and others studying for a test that day.

It might've seemed weird to see four teens living in the same house together had they not known why they were living together. All of their parents- Wallow's, Danny's Chris' and Beth's had passed away when the building they had worked in caught fire. They could only find solace in each other and decided that living together would've been the only option. They decided that living in Chris' house-now theirs-would be best since his house was the biggest, and money wasn't an issue; their parents had made enough money that it became an afterthought.

Wallow and Danny had begun talking about which of the newer movies was better, and Chris watched Beth out of the corner of his eye. She had her glasses perched on her nose and she was looking down at her pre-calculus book, trying to study for the test she had today.

"What is it Chris?" She asked without taking her eyes off from her textbook.

He immediately jumped out of his skin and his face heated up- he didn't realize that he had been staring at her.

"W-what? Nothing! I wasn't staring at you or anything if that's what you mean." He wanted to smack himself for opening his big mouth.

She laughed. His heart skipped a beat.

"You know how he is, always starin' off into space and stuff," Danny chimed in, throwing his arm around Chris' shoulders and grinning.

"He's always been hella weird." Wallow shrugged, walking ahead to join Beth. She tucked her glasses in her blouse and asked Wallow questions about what would be on the test, to which he obliged with a big smile.

"Bro, just ask her out already. We've been watching you for years with this girl and it's damn obvious that you're crushing on her. Just ask her out and save all of this embarrassment, man." Danny's hand clapped on his shoulder as he shook his head in shame.

"What? No! Beth and I are just friends, man. I don't like her like that-yeah, I don't." Chris stared nervously from Danny to Beth, hoping that she couldn't hear the conversation that was going on.

Danny gave him a stern look that said, _come on man, we both know you're a terrible liar._

Alright, he admitted that he may have a tiny. . . medium. . . big. . . okay, huge. He had a _huge_ crush on this girl and he wanted nothing more than to kiss those lips that were smiling at him earlier. Ever since they were kids he thought she was this kick-ass girl who could take on the world. As they grew up, he began to notice her more and more _that_ way and suddenly the urge to smooch on her became as big as the urge to share an ice cream with her.

"Yeah, you're right," He admitted hurriedly. "But how do I make her notice me? I mean, I can't force her to like me back-"

"Maybe you can."

"-But if can get her notice me, maybe I can work my way up, y'know?" Chris ignored Danny's weak jab at humor. They both stopped walking once they made it to the steps of the school.

"Look, if I learned anything from when me and Beth dated is that if you want her to notice anything, you have to be up front about it-she's a dense as a bag of rocks."

"Hey!"

Danny raised his hands defensively. "Just bein' honest, broseph. If you want her to notice you, do it with a bang." With that last phrase, he turned and gave a wave before he walked into the school and began to head to his Computer Science class.

"With a bang," Chris muttered, rubbing his mouth in thought as he began to make his way to his English class. A class he shared with Beth, of all people.

Her face was still buried in her textbook when he came into the classroom, but she immediately closed it once he sat in the desk next to her. She didn't have her glasses on her face this time, so she could now look at his face with her clear green eyes without any obstruction.

"What's up?" Beth chirped, brushing some stray hairs from her face.

"Nothin' much. Hey, how'd you feel about that episode of B.R.A.S.S. yesterday?" He didn't really want to focus too much on getting her to notice him just yet. All he really wanted right now was to talk to her.

Beth's mouth eased into a grin and he felt his mouth mimic hers in response.

B.R.A.S.S. was a Sci-Fi show they had stumbled upon about these kids who called themselves the Bravest Warriors and helped the galaxy, no matter how hard it was. It was a little cheesy, but pretty good. They never missed an episode.

"I didn't expect a fight on Zygraxis, and it kind of freaked me out a bit," She admitted, her hands making all sorts of gestures.

"Yeah, same! I thought the way Kirk handled it was really cool." He clenched his fist almost as a sign of solidarity for the fictional character.

"It was kind of-"

"Hey Chris, hey Beth!"

Plum Mére made her way over to the duo and gave Beth a hug in greeting. When she turned towards Chris, Beth took it as a sign that the conversation was over and turned back to face forward, her face a bit crestfallen.

Just as Chris was about to comfort the girl, Plum placed herself in front of his view, her mouth curving up into a slight smile.

" I know this isn't the best time since class is about to start, but I was wondering if you wanted to have lunch with me today?"

She had a slight accent which people tried to pinpoint as French (her surname was French after all), which she adamantly refused. If anyone listened to her long enough, she _did_ have an accent, but it was probably somewhere else in Europe-maybe somewhere from the Nordics?

"Hey Chris! Did you hear me?" She waved her hand in front of his face, jolting him out of his thoughts.

"Yeah, sure," He said quickly, not remembering what question she asked but not wanting to be rude by asking her to repeat it.

"Great! See you at lunch, blond boy." Plum waved, giving him a wink as she went back to her desk.

Chris stopped breathing for a moment before he went to stare ahead at the chalkboard, hoping that his blush wasn't noticeable. He quickly glanced at Beth, hoping she didn't notice the flirty encounter.

One glance at her eyes told him she did.


	2. Chapter 2

"Are you going to the dance, Chris?"

"What?" He replied, a bit guilty that he hadn't been listening to her.

Plum rolled her eyes, but smiled at him. "The dance, silly! You know that the Ball of Winter is coming up, right? Or you haven't been paying attention to the calendar, either?"

"I'm sorry," He said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. Plum wasn't dumb- of course she would notice when he wasn't paying attention. "I just have a lot on my mind."

"So I've noticed! So, are you going or no?" She scooped some blueberry yogurt into her mouth, waiting for him to respond.

"Winter ball? I haven't really thought about it to be honest. But if you're going then, who wouldn't?" He laughed, eating some of his burger. He'd be lying if he said that he didn't have a crush on Plum at one point or another. Well, he still kind of did. But a lot of the time it was just Beth that he really liked.

"Well, if I go, would you go? I'd love it if you could be my date." She reached over and grasped his hand in hers, her violet eyes smiling.

"I-I-I-" Chris stuttered, his eyes darting from Plum's face to her hand. Wow she was close, she was really _really_ close. He could smell her scent of sunflowers. The fluorescent lights were becoming too bright, and the people were a little too loud. He wasn't sure if he was going to reply to Plum or vomit. He swallowed and chose the former.

"Give me a day to think about it, yeah? There're some things I have to sort out first before I say yes or no." Chris was surprised at how composed he sounded and gave himself a mental pat on the back. Good job, buddy.

"Of course! No problem." Plum beamed at him. As she stood up to throw away her tray, she gave him a kiss on the cheek. The school bell rang in response.

As Chris began to walk to Calculus, he began to really think about this turn of events. He was glad that he didn't immediately tell Plum yes or no because now was the perfect opportunity to have Beth notice him! He couldn't believe he had almost let the dance pass him by- he had been thinking so much about so many different things that it just seemed to slip by him. He could totally ask Beth to the dance and when they were on the dance floor, the music slow and the lights soft, he could kiss her and tell her how he felt. Maybe she would say she felt the same back. But he would never find out if he never asked her!

The rest of the day passed in a blur as he tried to set everything up in his mind. After school he had track practice and she had archery. They usually walked home together, so it would be the perfect time to ask her! They'd be alone since Wallow had a job as a freelance programmer (he said there was nothing wrong with making a little money doing something you liked) and Danny had a robotics competition and wouldn't be home until later.

The timing was perfect.

Whenever they both had practice, Beth would always wait for him since she was always let out of practice slightly earlier and they'd always walk home together. Usually they just talked about what happened throughout the day, impending projects, overbearing coaches, and the words would always come with ease. But this time Chris felt a churning in his stomach and had a dry throat even though he took a swig out of his water bottle not even a few seconds earlier.

"Hey Chris." Beth gave a slight wave as she popped up from a bench connected to the wall, lugging her book bag and sports bag behind her.

"Yo," He replied, joining her and walking together out the double doors. Even though it was February, the slight breeze and crisp smell of burning wood made it seem more like late March. It was still cold, but not as cold as other places were.

Just as before, they fell easily into the chatter about their days- Beth was sure that she had done moderately well on her pre-calc test and how she had been working on improving her stance in archery and her coach noticed.

"She was so proud! I never thought I'd get a compliment from her-never say never," She laughed, her mouth grinning from ear to ear. Chris couldn't help but smile in response, knowing how hard she had practiced in the backyard whenever she had time.

"Wow, that's freaking great, Beth. Of course Coach Gayle would compliment you- you worked your butt off." He gave her a playful shove and she shoved him back as a 'thank you'.

The streets were mostly quiet with the occasional car passing by, the air friendly between them. They were two blocks away from home, and if they got home before he asked her, she'd be busy with schoolwork, or food, or whatever else she could find to do around the house. Chris felt that now was the time to ask her before anything could turn the mood sour.

"Hey Beth," He began, shifting his book bag on his shoulder. To make sure he didn't stutter, her fiddled with his book bag straps.

"Yeah?" She brushed her black hair behind her ears and he could now see her soft skin out of the corner of his eye. _Oh crap._

"I was wondering. . . if you were going to winter ball this year?" He turned to look at her and noticed there was a slight pause in her step, her face looking from him to the sidewalk in front of her pensively.

"Well," She tapped her small mouth with her fingers. "I hadn't really thought about it and kinda thought about going to the movies that day."

Chris seemed to deflate a little. "Oh really?" He tried adding as much enthusiasm as he could into his voice.

"Yeah! But the more I thought about it, the more I thought it would be hella lame just to go to the movies so I bought my ticket a little while back." She glanced up at him and her mouth curved into a slight smile. She tugged on the hem of her blouse.

"Really? That's great!" His confidence came back tenfold so now he was totally sure about asking her. "Because I wanted to ask you if you wanted to be my date for winter ball?" His heart couldn't stop beating so fast.

Beth's steps faltered and she paused before walking again, her face guarded.

"Oh Chris, didn't you hear? I'm going to the dance with Danny." Beth began walking again, but Chris didn't try to keep up with her at first.

It was almost as if all he could hear and see was white noise.

 _Danny? When did Danny ask her to the dance? And why the hell didn't he tell me?_

"This is the first I'm hearing about it," He said with effort, finally moving to catch up to her. "And why Danny anyway?" His tone still came out incredulous.

"Well, I mean he asked me a while back but I waited to respond until today." She looked up at the blond, her eyes roaming over him and then quickly flicking back to the sidewalk, the house only a few feet away.

"Huh? Why?"

"Why? Why does it even matter to you, Chris? You already have a date. Why the fuss?" Her voice was a hard as stone as she moved ahead of him again. He could only see the back of her head so he wasn't sure what she looked like. Something told him she didn't look too happy.

"What, I just-" He wasn't sure what was going on, but the good mood from before had been completely obliterated.

"Did Plum tell you to ask me out of pity? Because I don't need it, Chris Kirkman. I have a date and I'll be just _fine._ " They had already reached home and Beth rushed up the stairs to her room before he could make any kind of protest.

When he heard her bedroom door slam, all he could think as he looked up the stairs was: _what the hell just happened?_

* * *

Beth did speak to him the next day, surprisingly enough. But whenever he tried to bring up the dance situation, she would quickly change the subject or suddenly find something else to do. He tried to get Wallow to talk to her about it, but she would always pull the same stunt. She wouldn't even smile at him.

Chris wasn't sure if he could confront Danny at all about the situation. Admittedly, he felt hurt that even though Danny gave him all that advice on Beth, he had underhanded him. He couldn't even look at Danny whenever they were in the same room.

Danny seemed to notice his anger and frustration. Even though he didn't know what it was about, he knew that pressing whatever matter he had on his mind wouldn't help. So, he would give Chris tiny nudges to tell him that he was here to listen to him. Other than that, he waited. Waited for Chris to tell him what was on his mind like friends were supposed to.

On their way to school, Beth claimed that she needed help with her Computer Science homework, so she walked ahead with Danny so he could give her guidance. Chris knew that Beth was just doing it so she could avoid him. He didn't object.

Now that Beth and Danny were out of range, Chris could finally show some of his frustration. He wanted to talk about it, truthfully, but Danny was who he talked to the most, second to Beth. And now he had neither of the people he wanted to talk to. His blue eyes darted to the right of him where Wallow was walking. Faintly, he heard the sound of some kind of dubstep mix, and Wallow was content as he bobbed his head to and fro. Now that he realized it, Chris still had Wallow to talk to. He may not be as close to him as the other two, but he was relaxed and had good vibes. Maybe he could ask him for advice?

"Hey Wallow," Chris said as he tugged on the bigger guy's sleeve. He paused and took off the headphones, letting them fall around his neck.

"Yeah? What's up?" His voice rumbled and a small smile appeared on his face.

Once he had spoken those three words, Chris was enveloped in a sea of calm. When it counted most, Wallow had the calmest disposition out of the four, but he could also be loads of fun. He could really talk to this guy, he realized.

"I was wondering if I could talk to you about stuff that's been going on."

"You mean about the fact that Beth won't talk to you and you're avoiding Danny?" He raised an eyebrow, his smile spreading even further.

Chris choked on his spit as he tried to get his bearings together. "You were paying attention?" Wallow patted him on the back to give him some sort of comfort.

"I notice everything, dude. Don't be freaked out about it too much," Wallow replied, shrugging his shoulders. It was kind of a "well what can I do?" kind of shrug.

"Anyway," He began hesitantly, but soon continued. "Plum asked me to winter ball which doesn't sound too bad, right? Well, I really wanted to ask Beth, but she's actually going to the dance with Danny. Oh, and she's hecka pissed at me." Chris ruffled his hair as he finally got everything he wanted to say off of his chest. He still could hear Beth's words echoing in his mind, and he wanted to fix it.

"And why is she mad, man? Girls just don't get mad for no reason." If Wallow knew anything more than computers, it was women. The dating experience he had with girls (and guys) backed up his words. Girls were fickle, yes, but they didn't get mad without good reason.

Chris knew the answer even before he had asked. "She thinks I asked her out because she saw Plum and me talking and thought I had planned to ask her out of pity." Chris wanted to hit himself on the head, but he knew the neighbors would be watching, so he settled for rubbing his face in frustration. How could she think that? He was totally into her since they were kids!

"Hmm." Wallow rubbed his chin in thought. The school was now in view and Chris waited anxiously for his response.


	3. Chapter 3

"Take Plum to the dance," He finally responded as they reached the steps of the school. They didn't have class together, so they couldn't keep on talking and Chris needed an explanation for his answer. Take Plum to the dance? That sounded like the worst thing he could do to fix this mess!

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, take her to the dance. What I'm going to say now is totally awful, but it'll help: take her to the dance because trying to clear up things with Beth right now'll be hard since she won't listen to you man, to be honest. Then at the dance, tell her. Talk to her." Wallow left him with those words as he made his way to P.E.

Chris didn't call out to him because he was thinking too much over what Wallow had told him. Plum was a stellar girl, and it wouldn't be okay to set her up like. But what if he told her what his intentions were? She couldn't get mad, right? He still felt guilty about what he was doing, but if that was what he had to do, and then he could deal with it.

Once in English, Chris had passed a note to Plum asking if he could sit with her at lunch again today. A small nod and smile from her told him what he needed to know.

After they had gotten their lunches, situated themselves at the table, and began to talk about things from school, Chris decided that he would get to the heart of the matter.

"Hey Plum, I really thought about what you had asked me yesterday, and I decided that I'll go to winter ball with you." Chris didn't exactly feel enthusiastic, but he tried to sound as much as he could for her sake.

"Oh, that's wonderful news! I didn't think you would respond in exactly one day, but I am glad." She smiled as brightly as she did yesterday, and he knew that it would be hard to let her down, but he had to.

But what happened next made it nearly impossible to explain to her why he said yes.

And it was because she kissed him, full frontal.

The kiss was incredibly chaste, and when Plum pulled back, he could still taste her coconut Chap Stick on his lips. He didn't mean to, but his face turned as red as s tomato and Plum laughed. He turned to see if anyone in the lunchroom had seen it, but for the most part, nobody did. The half that did, he didn't really know the people so he could care less. To add to his infortune, he turned and locked eyes with Beth.

Instead of looking angry like he thought she would, she just looked immensely sad and it made his heart ache. She turned back towards the girls she was sitting with before he could open his mouth.

Even though the kiss would make it difficult to tell Plum, he now knew he had to tell her.

"Plum, I am going to the dance with you, but it isn't for the reason that you think it is," Chris said in one breath, hoping that she wouldn't interrupt him.

"Ah, what is it?" Plum blinked rapidly before nodding slowly, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"I-uh- really like Beth," He got out, trying to read her face as he talked.

"Well why don't you ask her to the dance?" She sounded honestly curious.

"She- well, I did try to, don't get me wrong. But when I had asked her after you and I had talked yesterday, she thought I asked her out of pity. I just want her to- honestly, I just want her. That's all I've wanted since we were kids." He felt like such a sucker for confessing all of this to a girl that had asked him to the dance. But somehow, someway, he knew that Plum could help him out somehow.

"Chris, you should have told me earlier when I had talked to you," She replied sternly, wagging her finger. She took a swig of her milk before she continued. "It's terrible that Beth thinks that-I would never hurt my friend." She sounded sad.

"And that's why I want to fix this; so she doesn't have any hard feelings with us." Chris sounded animated now that he knew Plum felt the same way that he did.

"I don't mind if you go to the dance with her- I can talk to her if that's what you want?" She began to get up from her seat, but Chris immediately pulled her down.

"The thing is, she's already going with Danny," He told her as he sat her back down. Plum looked absolutely stunted as she thought over what they could do.

"So what's your plan?"

"I was thinking that I could still take you to the dance-if you don't mind- and tell her there that I really like her and never meant to hurt her." He folded his hands in front of himself and waited patiently for her response. He was utterly grateful for how understanding and kind she was. He definitely had to repay her somehow.

Plum nodded before responding. "Why at the dance, though? Why not somewhere more private?" She mimicked his stance, but not out of malice. It was more of a way to understanding where he was getting at.

"I guess to show her I didn't ask her out of pity? And it's a bit more dramatic and I really have to make an impression, you know?"

Plum looked deep in thought and Chris could hear the ticking of the analog clock, the sound reminding him how much time they had left.

"So will you help me?" His voice was so hopeful for a sixteen year old boy that Plum had to take another pause before answering.

"I must admit that I am hurt that you don't really want to go to the dance with me, and that you only want to use me for your convenience." She pursed her lips as she saw him hang his head guiltily. Plum knew that was his way to apologize for his wrongdoings, and she took what she could get.

"But, both you and Beth were meant to be together, so I will help you in your romantic endeavors." She smiled genuinely, her eyes crinkling at the sides. She put her hand over his comfortingly, and they decided that they would talk to each other to figure out their plan.

They had to talk outside of school so Beth wouldn't assume that they were up to no good. When they had exchanged numbers, they were sure that everything would be okay. Everything would be sorted out, and Beth could finally smile.

At least, that was what they hoped.

...

 **because I'm selfish as heck, 12 reviews = next update**


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